My dog has developed a problem with his anal glands. He needs to have them emptied every few weeks. The first time at the vet he was ok (ish). The second time he got a bit upset and tried to pull away etc. Yesterday, I tried to see if I could find them and see if they needed seeing to again. As I put my hand on the area he growled at me.
Today I have an appointment at the vet this morning - got to leave in 30 minutes, but I am a bit worried that his behaviour will escalate. If he growls should i tell him off, or just ignore it, how should I deal with this?
thanks in advance for any tips.

Unfortuantely he is growling to tell you he is not happy and does not like it.  It may escalate to a nip if ignored as what else can he do next to show you of his unhappiness?

Telling him off won't help, if he is of good nature, he may let you continue with a growl of dislike, which you can ignore, but I'm not going to say it will be ok, he may well nip or bite, it depends on the character of your dog unfortunatley you won't know his full reaction until he does it.

You may well find that he needs to be muzzled to do this in future, or you may decide to just let your vet or groomer do it with a muzzle.

Having Him on a lead and having the lead attatched to a sturdy structure helps.(Maybe close the door and have the leash tied round the door handle)
He wont be able to turn round to nip you and you can work near his rear safely, Every time he lets you touch there even a little bit without any fuss give him a small treat (Something really nice that he loves and rarely gets) so he knows he's doing well and he will very quickly learn that this treatment means treats if he just doesnt fuss and when you feel he is comftable with it, you can remove the lead as you know he wont react or bite etc.

We tried this with our friends dog (A Large breed) who would bite if they tried to brush him, it worked wonders and now hes more then happy for a treat and a brush, it also avoids the stress of putting on a muzzle and he will know when the treatment is coming if you out one on him everytime!

Let us know how you get on!

Is he food orientated ? if so whilst the back end is being dealt with then occupy the front end with some of his favourite titbits as that might hopefully give him enough distraction.

Also have you increased his fibre intake as this often helps with problems with the anal glands :)

My ANton and his dad are both, what seems to be growlers when anyone does something with them, but it's actually them talking and they've never gone for anyone.  People used to be scared when they heard Moby grumbing away if people were stroking his back end etc. but now they realise that it's nothing.  Even I used to be worried when he first started it!

one of my girls does that too she even jumps up to give me a hug and as I am hugging her back she is grumbling which to anyone else sounds awful but I know she is only talking to me.

But to answer the question about cleaning the glands if you dont want to muzzle is it possible to get someone to hold her head and talk to her while you work on her rear end.

Roni

Definitely make sure you associate the treatment with food at the same time.

Also, you can gradually desensitise the dog - so for instance you can decide how the treatment is most often going to be done, (ie on lead, tied up, being handled, whatever...) then use very tasty special rewards for helping the dog feel it may be worth putting up with the pain/discomfort.

I was able to do this with my dog who had to have eye ointment, she totally hated it but with lots of "jolly hockey sticks" attitude, calmness, and plenty of extra special food rewards during the treatment she soon coped and although never looked forward to it, understood it wasn't so bad.

This also relates to the "ladder of aggression". In the conference I attended on this,  a very simple point was made via video of a dog being gr0omed a bit roughtly, his signs of discomfort/appeasement etc were escalating, and in many dogs would have been growls etc.

The next clip showed same dog, but with him being given a pig's ear to chew on - much happier dog, still not happy but more relaxed and more able to cope ;)

Good luck
Lindsay
x

My boyfriends uncle has a black lab that growls to 'talk' I love dogs and know alot about them but it still even makes me wary when youre putting her food down for her and shes growling right next to your face! :D :D